1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems for the storage on and reproduction from a single recording track, and particularly to an automated system wherein the data is of a variety of types, video, audio, and digital, which is recallable as a function of correlation between recorded and external signals.
2. General Description of the Prior Art
In the fields of interactive instruction, information storage and retrieval and process measurement and control, recorded audio, visual and digital information is often required to be output at a discrete time, and that discrete time may be dependent upon the correlation between answers or some form of feedback, often in digital form, from an operator or process. In the case of instructional systems, depending upon the comparison, the operator or student would then be given certain other information; and, in the case of a process, the machine would be directed to, for example, repeat a measurement or go to a new measurement or control action, or, in both cases, to load a digital program into an external computer to carry out a more complex process or operation.
The approach to accomplishing this type of control that is conventionally used is to take all the recorded "answer" and "second-location" commands and to store them in an extensive and expensive computer memory which is controlled by a complex operating system and a program written in an application language. When the student or user input occurs, the application program, operating under the operating system, must search the memory for the matching stored "answer" and "second-location" command. This means, of course, that the range of responses is limited to the capability of the memory, that additional expense is incurred by storing the recorded messages twice, once in the recording medium and the second time in the expensive and complex computer memory, and the additional complexity, cost and unreliability of a computer and computer programming language must be borne by the user.
It is the objective of this invention to eliminate the need for extensive computer memory, to eliminate the need for a computer, to eliminate the need for an operating system and applications programming language, and to eliminate the redundant storage of "answers" and "second-location" type control information in interactive instruction, information storage and retrieval and process control systems containing random access video, audio and digital recording and playback equipment.
The invention is briefly summarized in the Abstract and the disclosure and is treated in somewhat greater detail in the description of FIGS. 1-5.